Ebola emerged Wednesday night as a new issue in Colorado’s U.S. Senate debate with Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Cory Gardner, but much of their hour-long exchange focused on familiar themes.

The two exchanged jabs for nearly an hour in 9News’ studio as moderators Kyle Clark and Brandon Rittiman pushed the candidates to answer questions on everything from climate change to reproductive rights to health-care reform.

When it was time for the candidates to quiz each other, Clark couldn’t resist, saying the Senate hopefuls got to see what it was like to “ask questions and not get straight answers.”

Gardner gave up a safe congressional seat for the chance of knocking off Udall, who is seeking a second term. Their neck-and-neck battle is one of the hottest races nationwide.

The candidates were asked how they would evaluate the federal response to the Ebola crisis.

“We ought to listen to the doctors and the health-care professionals,” Udall said. “If they believe we ought to close our borders, we ought to restrict flights to and from West Africa. Let’s listen to them.

“But senators and congressmen shouldn’t be making those decisions. We should be supporting the resources that are necessary to meet the Ebola challenge.”

Gardner called for an immediate traffic ban on all travel fromWest African countries where the Ebola virus is spreading. He will be in Washington Thursday to attend an Ebola hearing as a member of the oversight panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“If the president’s not willing to put into a place a travel ban, then we should have 100 percent screening of the people who are coming from those affected areas,” Gardner said.

The two tangled over cuts to the Center for Disease Control, with Udall saying the congressman cut funds that would have helped the agency and Gardner saying he opposed tax dollars going to programs such as Jazzercise.

As he has in other debates, Gardner was quick to note that Udall votes with President Obama 99 percent of the time.

“I will vote 100 percent of the time with the people of Colorado,” Gardner said. “Leadership matters.”

“Congressman, what you don’t like talking about is that you’re the 10th most conservative member of the House,” Udall said.

Gardner has been repeatedly been asked on the campaign trail about his sponsorship of the federal Life Begins at Conception Act, which, as Clark pointed out, nearly everyone but Gardner agrees would outlaw abortion.

“We are not going to debate that here tonight because it’s fact,” Clark said. “It would seem that a charitable interpretation would be that you have a difficult time admitting when you’re wrong and a less charitable interpretation is that you’re not telling us the truth.

“Which is it?”

Gardner said the bill is “simply a statement that I support life.”

“The personhood bill, congressman, is a bill. It’s not a statement,” Udall countered. “If it became law, it would ban all abortions and it would ban most common forms of contraceptives. Coloradans deserve the truth from you. You have to really give a straight answer.”

Rittiman asked Udall about his campaign’s focus on women’s health issues and whether the intent was about getting “enough female votes to help push you over the edge in the election.”

Udall said his campaign also has talked about making college more affordable and raising the minimum wage.

Gardner noted that The Denver Post, when it endorsed him, accused Udall of running an “obnoxious one-issue campaign.”

More in Politics

The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Ford Motor Co. is going ahead with plans to move small-car production from the U.S. to Mexico despite President-elect Donald Trump’s recent threats to impose tariffs on companies that move work abroad.

Donald Trump’s administration, already seen as the wealthiest in modern history, is about to get even richer when Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Gary Cohn is named the president-elect’s chief economic policy adviser.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani formally withdrew from consideration for a post in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration Friday, putting an end to his ill-fated bid to lead the State Department.